User Comments - amber
amber
Posted on: Come on up!
September 24, 2008 at 7:06 AMhi wwolfeld,
Often when a person arrives, in Chinese they use the set phrase “来了” (lái le) to mean, he has arrived; he's here.
You can also use 到 (dào) to indicate you've arrived.
我到了。
Wǒ dào le.
I'm here.
来 (lái) can also have different meanings depending on the context.
Here 来 (lái) definitely means 'to come':
明天你要来吗？
Míngtiān nǐ yào lái ma？
Are you coming tomorrow?
他刚刚从北京来。
Tā gānggāng cóng Běijīng lái.
He just came from Beijing.
Sometimes 到 (dào) also means to go somewhere:
我们到外面吃吧。
Wǒmen dào wàimian chī ba.
Let's go out to eat.
Posted on: Checking Baggage
September 24, 2008 at 6:36 AMHi tomfaber,
You would use the structure:
离....很远
Lí....hěn yuǎn
'Far from ....'
The contrast:
我家靠近地铁站。
Wǒjiā kàojìn dìtiě zhàn.
My house is near the subway station.
我家离地铁站很远。
Wǒjiā lí dì tiě zhàn hěn yuǎn.
My house is far away from the subway station.
Posted on: Farm Animals
September 24, 2008 at 2:27 AMbababardwan,
哞 (mōu) moo of a cow
咯咯 (gēgē) cluck of a chicken
咩 | 咩 (miē) bleat of a sheep
咴儿咴儿 (huīrhuīr) neigh of a horse
哼哼 (hēngheng) snort of a pig
Posted on: Don't Never Say Never
September 23, 2008 at 8:28 AMhi frances,
There is no 从来别 (Cónglái bié). You would just use 从来不 (Cónglái bù).
Posted on: Don't Never Say Never
September 23, 2008 at 8:25 AMhi huasen,
Here are two ways you could say 'Since I came to Beijing I never drink coffee, I always drink tea.'
我来北京以后就从来没喝过咖啡，总是喝茶。
(Wǒ lái Běijīng yǐhòu jiù cónglái méi hē guo kāfēi, zǒngshì hēchá.)
我来北京以后就不喝咖啡了，总是喝茶。
(Wǒ lái Běijīng yǐhòu jiù bù hē kāfēi le, zǒngshì hēchá.)
The second sentence uses the 了 (le) that indicated a change has taken place. The first sentence doesn't need a 了 (le). The use of 过 (guo) covers that something is already past.
Posted on: Don't Never Say Never
September 23, 2008 at 8:18 AMcalkins,
Excellent sentence and grammar totally correct.
Posted on: What size?
September 23, 2008 at 2:34 AMhi bababrdwan,
Foot binding was only done for girls, not boys.
Posted on: Lao Wang's Office 3: A Call for Innovation
September 23, 2008 at 2:32 AMhi parkerbshort,
With Powerpoint 2007, they still say just 'PPT'.
For an Excel file they say:
Excel文档 (Excel wéndàng)
For a Word doc they say
word 文档 (Word wéndàng)
Posted on: Reading Faces and Shanghai Architecture
September 23, 2008 at 2:26 AMhi turdferguson,
hahaha, thanks for sharing that story, I am laughing my head off. So good to hear about the face-reading in action.
Don't worry, you don't look to poverty-stricken in your pic... not yet at least, and certainly not stupid hehe ;)
Posted on: Lili and Zhang Liang 9: The Come-on
September 24, 2008 at 8:42 AMhi doezeedoats,
Yes that sentence is correct!